


The Stakeout

by icescreamstand



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 01:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18297356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icescreamstand/pseuds/icescreamstand
Summary: During one of their missions, Tony and Steve are on a stakeout and learn a little bit about each other.





	The Stakeout

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first piece for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I mostly stick to Star Wars, so please don't be too cruel. I hope you enjoy.

They both had wished they could have been on this stakeout with anyone else, but with Thor back on Asgard, Clint MIA, Natasha was doing espionage, and they both knew Bruce was better off at the lab searching for Loki's staff, the two of them had to compromise. They both wished they could like each other, they were able to keep their relationship professional, but the last thing the two of them wanted was to be stuck on a hill-top monitoring a small home at the bottom of a hill for any suspicious activity. 

Tony had his armor set to sentry-mode to offer him some comfort, while Steve just fiddled with his shield, absently stroking lines along the metal. Tony had been wanting to ask Steve about everything that happened in D.C, but even his compulsive attitude had a limit, and that was it. Steve had made them a small fire and Tony had made sure to bring provisions. Sitting there, they both listened to the sound of foreign insects and nocturnal animals singing into the Eastern European darkness. Looking up, Steve realized that even the stars were foreign. 

He sighed looking down into the dirt, he wished there was someway he could talk to Tony without the man rolling his eyes, or making some sarcastic comment to him, but sadly, there will never be a time when he didn't. He set his shield down and grabbed a stick beside the log he was sitting on and began to draw a boat. It was a simple sail-boat, with one sail and a bad attempt at a crow's nest. He wished he was on a boat, or anywhere else for that matter, the tension slowly building between him and Tony was becoming unbearable. 

His eyes snapped up when he heard Tony let out a large breath and stood up looking around their camp with a hard eye, as if criticizing everything and running some equation in his head that could make this place better. Finally, his eyes rested on Steve and they narrowed slightly on him. 

"You know what? I give in." he commented. Raising his hands, as if showing a sign of defeat he took a few steps over to Steve to where he was standing over him and Steve had to crane his neck to look Tony in the eyes. 

"What?"

Tony let his hands drop and he licked his lips. "I know we don't really see eye-to-eye, but this is becoming unbearable. We need to break the ice." Tony paused for a moment, his gaze had torn away as he spoke, before his eyes snapped back over at Steve. "No pun intended." Steve just shook his head, not caring about the accidental pun. 

"I agree. You know, we may never see eye-to-eye, but at least we can get to know each other." Steve nodded as he spoke. Tony nodded along and took a careful seat next to Steve, but instead of the log, he chose the ground, so he could instead lean back against the log. 

"So. What do you want to talk about?" Steve asked. 

Tony shrugged, he brought one knee up to his chest and held his hands around it loosely as he stared into the fire. "I was hoping you'd be the one to initiate it Captain. After all you're the more patriotic one when it comes to this stuff." Steve let out a whisper of a chuckle as he just shook his head and looked at the back of Tony's head. 

They sat like that for awhile, the tension had cleared, and very quickly the two men became comfortable around one another. Tony kept glancing over at his suit, it kept watch over the village, and JARVIS was to make any reports once activity spiked up, but it had been silence since they had gotten there 6 hours prior. 

The first to talk was Steve. 

"How was Howard?"

Tony didn't respond at first, he didn't know what he meant by the question. Finally, he tapped his knee and asked, "How do yah mean?"

"Like, as a father? How was he? I never really took him as the father type." Steve admitted, his eyes never tearing away from the hill's edge, he could barely make the porch light out from where he sat.

Tony shrugged, he brought his knee closer and he took a shaky breath. "He was... a father, I guess. Cold, hard, calculating. He wanted the best, and he pushed me to be the best. My whole life I always thought I failed him, when he sent me to boarding school, that's when I knew I failed him. My whole life I felt as if I was under his constant eye, his judgement, his scrutiny. But after he died, I uhh..." He paused for a moment, trying to gather himself. Steve could tell Tony was trying hard not to crack, his shoulders had become tight, and his neck straightened. 

"After he died, I felt free. I felt like I could do anything. But I also felt lost. I didn't have his guidance and I then had a company to run. I was so focused on chasing girls and disobeying my father that I hardly had any idea on how to run the company." Tony explained. "But, now, I know that he pushed me to my limits because he knew I could pass them. He wanted me to continue his legacy and make the world a better place. I just hope I made him proud." He coughed a little bit and shook his head, as if shaking away a memory he felt better left alone. 

"He would be. If he were here now, he would be proud of you Tony." Steve said softly. 

Tony shifted slightly and sighed. "Yeah."

Steve looked down and bit his lip, he hadn't meant to stir Tony's feelings, he was just curious. He always wondered how Howard might've been as a father, and seeing Tony here today, Steve knew that Howard was a great father. 

"What about you?"

Steve looked up at Tony and gave him a weird look. "What about me?"

Tony shifted slightly so he didn't have his back turned to him, so he could actually look at him. "What was it really like waking up only to find out your 70 years out of your time?"

Something shifted in the brush and immediately the two men stood up, Steve had his shield in his hand and Tony had his hand raised, ready to signal the suit to come. But after a little bit, the men choked it up to be some animal, and they sat back down and remained silent for a bit. Tony had his back turned to Steve again, and his knee was brought close to his chest, while Steve had sat back on the log and rested his head in his hands. They watched the fire crackle and pop in silence for what seemed like hours, but in reality it was only minutes. 

"I was shell-shocked. It was definitely a change. After a few weeks I got depressed." Steve admitted. "I was out of my time, I didn't understand this newer culture, this technology wave. Back in my day, the microwave was the technological advancement of the century. But here I saw colored televisions, mobile phones that you could fit in your hand, you could listen to music on your phone, you didn't have to wait for your favorite movie to come on the television, you could go out and buy it whenever you want. Women wearing shorts, non-segregated restrooms. It's all been bizarre. I stayed in my room, or went to a gym that was down the street. They were the only two places that I was familiar with. Slowly, I got better. I adjusted, and by the time the Attack on New York happened, I got good. There are still things that surprise me and will always surprise me. You being one of them. But I've gotten better." he explained. His voice full of melancholy and a sense of home-sickness that Tony had experienced only once in his life. But to Steve, it was happening constantly. Tony turned to look at Steve and they catched each other's gaze for a few moments. 

"How did New York affect you?" Steve asked as he stared at Tony. Tony broke away from his gaze but remained with his body facing Steve. 

"Honestly? It messed me up in ways that I'll never be able to fix. I uhh.. can't sleep, when I do though, I have nightmares. Pepper has to wake me up and let me walk around for a bit, but usually I just go downstairs and work on new suits. I'll have panic attacks when something loud happens and I uhh..." Tony began to visibly shake as he thought back to the incident. He began to rub his hands together as a coping mechanism and began to look around flustered, as if he couldn't figure out where he was.

"Hey, hey." Steve rested a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Ok?" Tony just gave him a brief nod and breathed out a quiet 'thank you' before calming down. Steve leaned back and watched Tony for a moment as he picked some grass out of the ground. 

"God, this night is going to last forever." Tony muttered to himself. 

"What do you mean by that?" Steve asked leaning forward, his hand still on Tony's shoulder. 

Tony stood up and Steve's hand fell. He walked around the fire and stared at the fire, every time he was across from Steve he would catch his gaze. He had noticed when he picked him up, that Steve had gone with the espionage suit. Tony preferred that one to his spangly bright red and blue onesie. This one made him look more like a soldier than a mascot. 

"What happened in DC?" Tony asked standing across from Steve, on the opposite side of the fire. 

Steve's expression hardened and he also noticed the way his eyes fell. "What happens in DC stays in DC then." Tony smiled, Steve smiled at Tony's respect for privacy let his head rest on his hands again as he watched Tony turn about the fire. 

"Maybe one day I'll be able to tell you everything." Steve spoke after another few minutes of silence. Tony turned at Steve's statement and smiled. 

"Are you proposing that we might actually become friends Rogers?" Tony scoffed in mock surprise. Steve just rolled his eyes and stared at Tony with an incredulous look. The two men laughed for a few seconds before Tony began walking around the flames again. 

"What was Peggy like?" Tony spoke up. "Dad mentioned her every once in awhile. He said she was a fire in the middle of an ocean, impossible, but still going, never letting the water burn her out." 

"Howard was right. She didn't let stereotypes, or the times knock her back, she had to constantly fight to be respected and she was. She was held to a certain respect and fear and that's why I fell in love with her." Steve sighed. "In today's society, she would be a force to be reckoned with. I don't even think Romanoff could intimidate her, she was a good friend, she still is today." he looked up at Tony and he could see tears in the soldiers eyes as he knew he was thinking about the what-ifs. Tony gave him a sad smile. 

"I would have loved to meet her." 

Steve shrugged. "Maybe you could. She's still alive. I visit her once a month. She's at a hospital in London." he explained simply. 

"I'll have to take you up on that sometime." Tony's sad smile turned into a daring one and Steve smiled in return. 

"I say we stand 4 hour watches, that way we can get some sleep at least." Steve announced suddenly. Tony turned to him from he stood next to his suit, he was doing some minor repairs, ensuring the suit would be fine through the night. 

Tony shrugged and looked out at the village before looking back at Steve. "Yeah. I got first watch. Go get some sleep." he motioned with his hand towards the tent and Steve stood up, stretching before slowly walking over to the small tent. He glanced at Tony once more before falling into a dreamless sleep. 

Just as Steve felt himself falling into a deeper sleep, someone's hands lightly shoved his shoulders. 

"Hey, wake up Rogers." It was Tony. Steve groaned slightly and sat up, rubbing his eyes. 

"Wha-?" he managed to ask out. 

"It's been six hours." Tony commented simply. Steve quickly woke up to that comment. 

"C'mon Tony," he griped through his exhaustion. "We were supposed to do 4 hours."

"Well." he shrugged."I got a little lost tracking time so, congrats, you got an extra two hours." he patted Steve's shoulder. 

Steve crawled out of the tent and Tony crawled in. The two looked at each other through the slit, they didn't know what the emotion was that passed between the two was, but Steve was the first to break contact and shuffle a little bit back. "If you need anything, I'll be right outside ok." Tony gave him a mock salute and lay on his back. Steve stood up and made his way to the edge of the hill and stood next to Tony's suit, looking out at the village. 

Tony on the other hand tried to fight the sleep, he didn't want to have another nightmare, especially in front of Steve. He was embarrassed by them, he hated waking up either screaming, crying, sweating, or a combination of the three. But soon enough he fell into a fitful sleep. He began to dream about New York. 

He saw Rogers and Thor on the ground fighting back-to-back, never stopping. He sat Natasha on the roof, her focus on the cube, he saw the wormhole into space and the chitari coming out. He continued to push himself up towards it with all of his might. He was trying to call Pepper, but the call failed. He heard Steve's voice warning him that he won't make it back down, but he didn't care, he needed to save New York. He pushed himself higher and higher, fighting every instinct to let go and give up. He pushed himself before he finally entered space. 

"C'mon!" he yelled out as he pushed his suit to its limit before the power turned off and he let go of the rocket. He watched as the bomb headed towards the ship, the ship blew. He began to fall back, but instead of falling through the portal, he remained floating endlessly in space. 

"No." he whispered. He was trapped, he was alone, he was cold, and he was afraid. 

"No!" he cried out. "No!" 

He was awoken by someone shaking him. He gasped out and fought against the person holding his arms. 

"Get off!" he yelled out, struggling to get out of the other person's grip. 

"Stark! It's me. It's me." Tony relaxed at Steve's voice. The fire had died and they were consumed in darkness. He could barely make out Steve's form in the dim moonlight. 

"It's ok, you're here. New York's over. You're safe. We're all safe." Steve's voice was reassuring as Tony began to crumble. Tears flooded to his eyes and he fell into Steve. The other man caught him and managed to pull him into a safe hug. Tony gripped Steve's shoulders as if he was holding onto them for dear life. 

Tony looked up and felt for Steve's face. He held his face with both hands and the two remained like that for mere moments before Tony closed the distance. It was slow, awkward, and confusing at first. Steve had pulled back quickly and he was able to see the gleam in Tony's eyes before he closed the distance once more. He didn't know why he was doing this, but for right now, he didn't care, he needed this, they both needed this. 

As the two kissed, and explored, they both realized why they had always been so hostile towards one-another, it wasn't hatred for one another, it was fear for the feelings they were developing for one another. But right now, it didn't matter. As they lay there, Steve on top of Tony, the world only revolved around them, and the only feeling they felt at that moment was serenity.


End file.
